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SANAA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's dominant Shiite Houthi group traded accusations with Saudi Arabia on Friday over breaching a ceasefire mediated by the United Nations.
The UN-brokered ceasefire, meant to last for three days, came into effect on Wednesday midnight.
According to a statement released by Houthi-run media, a Thursday night air strike by the Saudi-led coalition killed three civilians in the northern province of Saada.
The coalition accused the Houthis of firing rockets on the southern Saudi cities of Jazan and Najran, killing two civilians, according to a statement by Saudi official media.
Meanwhile, Saudi-backed Yemeni government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said its troops in the Yemeni central province of Marib shot down three missiles fired by Houthis late on Thursday.
The ceasefire aimed for facilitating humanitarian aid supplies to the war-stricken cities.
UN officials hoped the truce would be extended to pave the way for resuming stalled peace talks and to end the war.
Previous attempts to cease fire between warring parties in Yemen had hardly been observed, with all sides involved in the conflict trading accusations of violating the truce.
The 19-month civil war has killed over 10,000 people, mostly civilians, and pushed the country's 26 million people to near famine.
Houthis and their ally forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh have controlled most of Yemen's northern regions since September 2014, while the Saudi-backed Hadi's government shares rule with tribal allies in the southern provinces they recaptured from Houthi rebels.
The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 with an air force campaign to restore Hadi to the power and roll back Houthi gains.
